Kat
Contributor
Left f/ Cabo on 8/8/03 Flew out of Chicago-Midway to LAX on SW Airlines (with a stop in KC) & then caught a flight from LAX to Cabo on Alaska Airlines. The LAX flight was an hour late. When we got into Cabo the only buses to the hotels were run by time share. So I paid $14 each U.S. f/ the buses & told them NO WAY on the time share. I'm told if I don't go to the timeshare I won't get a free bus ride back & the only way back to the A/P is a $75.00 cab ride. (Not true, the hotels will arrange a shuttle van to pick you up at the hotel f/ $14 each U.S.)I tell them I'd rather pay the $75.00 than go to their timeshare. Finally, 30 minutes later we are on our way to the hotel.
The airport is a very long way from downtown Cabo. Our bus breaks down about 30 min. into the trip & still have 8 people to drop off. Takes 20 min. f/ another bus to come get us. There seems to be someone official on this bus so those of us stranded ask f/ compensation w/ a ride back to the A/P on the day we are leaving. He's very nasty & says 'What for? You only sat here for 20 min., whats the big deal'. At this point I'm ready to kick his a$$. My boyfriend however, has a cooler head & we let it go.
Finally, we get to the Hacienda Beach Resort, where I made a reservation, but never paid. I'm hoping they have a Beach Cabana f/ us. If not, I figure-no big deal, we'll try some place else. Bernardo, at the front desk was so nice. He had a very dry sense of humor, which I did not pick up on. Luckily Pat (my BF) did. So when I asked if he had a room f/ us & he said he was expecting us but had no room, I was clueless. Hey, I'd had 1 hour of sleep the night before & got up at 4AM At this point I was not the brightest crayon in the box. They bring us each a margarita at check in. I drink mine & Pat doesn't want his, so I drink his too. At last, we go to our room. It's a cabana, built into the sand dunes, right on the beach. I love this room. Off to dinner, in the hotel. Were too tired to go anywhere else & end up paying a small fortune. I'm on my 3rd margarita. After dinner we go to check out the pool. I'm blasted & end up tripping & scrapped the top of my toes, their bleeding pretty good. Not sure why I'm so drunk, I only had 3 drinks.
Saturday: We book our diving w/ Cabo Acuadeportes & then we check out downtown Cabo. I keep the drinking to a minimum, I'm diving in the morning.
Sunday: Were ready f/ diving. Meet Frank, our instructor. He's from Texas, probably in his mid-30s and so funny. He's talking about going out drinking. Then he tells us the Hacienda makes great margaritas. I tell him, "Yeah I had 3 when we checked in." He can't believe I had 3, cause they are so strong. Now I know why I was so blasted.
Our 1st dive we go to the North Wall. Just Frank, Pat & me. Vis is about 50ft. Tons of starfish, everywhere. See a large green eel & alot of spotted eels. Of course, all kinds of colorful fish. (hope these technical names aren't slowing you up too much) Also see the sand waterfall, which was really cool. At the end of the dive, we see a White Tipped Shark. For our surface interval, we go back to the dive shop & sit on the beach. We have about an hour & a half SI, then out f/ our 2nd dive at Pelican Rock. This dive is very similar to the 1st dive. Saw another white tipped shark. There's a cavern that looks like it goes on forever, Frank said it's about 2000 ft. deep. I enjoyed the dive but other than the shark, it wasn't anything spectacular. We ask about a night dive, but they need 4 divers to go out & no one else ever signed up.
Monday: Went out to Lovers Beach & Divorce Beach. Very beautiful. We took a water taxi out, $7 U.S. each, round trip. But you can kayak out too. Kayaking takes about 20 min. We also rented a kayak on Wednesday to go out to the Sea Lion Colony. We were about 15 ft. away from them. Should have skipped the water taxi & just done the kayak, as we had to pass Lovers Beach, to get to the sea lions anyway.
Tuesday: Our 2nd & last day of diving. We dive w/Gary & 2 other divers. Back to Pelican Rock. I should have just skipped this dive & saved myself the money, but off we went. I won't bore you w/ the lack of details. After a 4 hour & 45 min. SI we go out f/ our 2nd dive. Lands End/The Point. It's a little choppy at the surface due to the Pacific Ocean & The Sea of Cortez meeting. But it's not that bad. There were about 7 Sea Lions sitting on 'their rock' but they never came in for a swim. We explored a very small cave, nothing to exciting in there. About 15 min. into the dive we saw 2 small stingrays buried in the sand. A few eels along the way too. Lots of surge, which can be fun. This was the best dive of the 4 we did in Cabo. Later that night, we checked out Sammy's place, Cabo Wabo. It's not what I expected, from the outside. We actually walked right past it. It's like the Hard Rock, only all Sammy-all the time. There was a band playing, which was pretty good. Drank $100 worth & called it a night.
Thursday: Were leaving. Going to LAX & then out to Catalina Island (I'll post that trip report in the North America section, later today)
I highly recommend eating at the Crazy Lobster on Hidalgo St. Excellent food, generous portions & very inexpensive. (Steak & shrimp dinner $10 US) I also liked the Mango Deck on Medano Beach & The Shrimp Bucket in the Marina.
We had a great time. Even though it was blazing hot during the day.(the sand on the beach was so hot it burned my feet) I wouldn't go to Cabo for just diving. But there is plenty to do topside-so no worries. And it is beautiful there.
The airport is a very long way from downtown Cabo. Our bus breaks down about 30 min. into the trip & still have 8 people to drop off. Takes 20 min. f/ another bus to come get us. There seems to be someone official on this bus so those of us stranded ask f/ compensation w/ a ride back to the A/P on the day we are leaving. He's very nasty & says 'What for? You only sat here for 20 min., whats the big deal'. At this point I'm ready to kick his a$$. My boyfriend however, has a cooler head & we let it go.
Finally, we get to the Hacienda Beach Resort, where I made a reservation, but never paid. I'm hoping they have a Beach Cabana f/ us. If not, I figure-no big deal, we'll try some place else. Bernardo, at the front desk was so nice. He had a very dry sense of humor, which I did not pick up on. Luckily Pat (my BF) did. So when I asked if he had a room f/ us & he said he was expecting us but had no room, I was clueless. Hey, I'd had 1 hour of sleep the night before & got up at 4AM At this point I was not the brightest crayon in the box. They bring us each a margarita at check in. I drink mine & Pat doesn't want his, so I drink his too. At last, we go to our room. It's a cabana, built into the sand dunes, right on the beach. I love this room. Off to dinner, in the hotel. Were too tired to go anywhere else & end up paying a small fortune. I'm on my 3rd margarita. After dinner we go to check out the pool. I'm blasted & end up tripping & scrapped the top of my toes, their bleeding pretty good. Not sure why I'm so drunk, I only had 3 drinks.
Saturday: We book our diving w/ Cabo Acuadeportes & then we check out downtown Cabo. I keep the drinking to a minimum, I'm diving in the morning.
Sunday: Were ready f/ diving. Meet Frank, our instructor. He's from Texas, probably in his mid-30s and so funny. He's talking about going out drinking. Then he tells us the Hacienda makes great margaritas. I tell him, "Yeah I had 3 when we checked in." He can't believe I had 3, cause they are so strong. Now I know why I was so blasted.
Our 1st dive we go to the North Wall. Just Frank, Pat & me. Vis is about 50ft. Tons of starfish, everywhere. See a large green eel & alot of spotted eels. Of course, all kinds of colorful fish. (hope these technical names aren't slowing you up too much) Also see the sand waterfall, which was really cool. At the end of the dive, we see a White Tipped Shark. For our surface interval, we go back to the dive shop & sit on the beach. We have about an hour & a half SI, then out f/ our 2nd dive at Pelican Rock. This dive is very similar to the 1st dive. Saw another white tipped shark. There's a cavern that looks like it goes on forever, Frank said it's about 2000 ft. deep. I enjoyed the dive but other than the shark, it wasn't anything spectacular. We ask about a night dive, but they need 4 divers to go out & no one else ever signed up.
Monday: Went out to Lovers Beach & Divorce Beach. Very beautiful. We took a water taxi out, $7 U.S. each, round trip. But you can kayak out too. Kayaking takes about 20 min. We also rented a kayak on Wednesday to go out to the Sea Lion Colony. We were about 15 ft. away from them. Should have skipped the water taxi & just done the kayak, as we had to pass Lovers Beach, to get to the sea lions anyway.
Tuesday: Our 2nd & last day of diving. We dive w/Gary & 2 other divers. Back to Pelican Rock. I should have just skipped this dive & saved myself the money, but off we went. I won't bore you w/ the lack of details. After a 4 hour & 45 min. SI we go out f/ our 2nd dive. Lands End/The Point. It's a little choppy at the surface due to the Pacific Ocean & The Sea of Cortez meeting. But it's not that bad. There were about 7 Sea Lions sitting on 'their rock' but they never came in for a swim. We explored a very small cave, nothing to exciting in there. About 15 min. into the dive we saw 2 small stingrays buried in the sand. A few eels along the way too. Lots of surge, which can be fun. This was the best dive of the 4 we did in Cabo. Later that night, we checked out Sammy's place, Cabo Wabo. It's not what I expected, from the outside. We actually walked right past it. It's like the Hard Rock, only all Sammy-all the time. There was a band playing, which was pretty good. Drank $100 worth & called it a night.
Thursday: Were leaving. Going to LAX & then out to Catalina Island (I'll post that trip report in the North America section, later today)
I highly recommend eating at the Crazy Lobster on Hidalgo St. Excellent food, generous portions & very inexpensive. (Steak & shrimp dinner $10 US) I also liked the Mango Deck on Medano Beach & The Shrimp Bucket in the Marina.
We had a great time. Even though it was blazing hot during the day.(the sand on the beach was so hot it burned my feet) I wouldn't go to Cabo for just diving. But there is plenty to do topside-so no worries. And it is beautiful there.
